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August 27, 2013

It’s August so that means only one thing when it comes to my
life: trade show season.

Every August
since I’ve moved to Australia I’ve headed down to Melbourne for work and for 5
days get sucked into the vortex that are trade events. These days I don’t actually mind it, I love a
Melbourne getaway, the opportunity to
get room service and since Jimmy normally comes down we get to enjoy a quick date
night out in the city.

Mostly the days
are long and are spent running around Life Instyle but this year I had the
opportunity to speak at our Meet The Expert series along Jen Bishop from Interiors Addict, Jessica Bellef from Temple & Webster and Kylie Lewis from Of Kin. Anyone that knows
me understands I would rather jump off a building than speak in public but it's
an evil necessity and you just power through, one shaky word at a time. Luckily the show was buzzing and I can’t really complain about being surrounded
by so many beautiful products – it can be exhausting yet inspiring at the same
time. Until next year…

August 25, 2013

A million years ago I used to be a runner.Every Saturday I would get up at crack of dawn and head to my favourite running route in Santa Monica. I would run by huge mansions, past the beach down to Venice and by the time I got back to my car all was right with the world. I ran with nothing but my thoughts and returned each time not only feeling stronger but with a strange sense of calm. Fast forward almost 10 years and if I tried to run that same route I would probably die. My knees aren’t the same and I’d much prefer to just sit and people watch or perhaps read a good book, forget the running.

I’ll use winter as an excuse but I’ve become lazy. I’ve become too accustomed to ordering take away and sleeping in so when I decided to break my unhealthy streak and channel some of my long lost fitness regime it was a rude awakening. Getting back into the routine is always the worst part but with each day I’ve felt better, like some part of my old self is beginning to shine through.

Jimmy and I have started to cook more, visit the local markets and just try ever so slightly to be a bit healthier. It’s a good change and although I admit a lot of this energy comes from vain motivation for our trip to Paris where I want to get fit and healthy just so I can eat cheese, croissants and drink copious amounts of red wine, it’s a step in the right direction.

August 22, 2013

I was lucky enough to have fab photographer, Lisa Zhu from Wander & Scout, at our Sydney Instagram Meet-Up and she did such an amazing job capturing the fun mood of the night that I just had to share some more photos here. Normally social media is one of the anti-social behaviors that is somewhat tolerated at functions. There is always an awkward moment of standing in the corner by yourself while you are trying to edit your photos and tag someone on Instagram while the conversation continues on without you. This was not the case at our meet-up, a room full of strangers, happily instagrammed away uninhabited by social etiquette and not one apology was made for the silence - it was such a snap happy moment for all...*all images by Lisa Zhu

August 18, 2013

I’ve always dreamt about going to Paris.Like many of us, I long to wake up and suddenly have the haircut, effortless style and metabolism of a French woman. I want to ride a bike, wear a beret and dash around the city carrying a baguette. But mostly just want to drink wine at lunch and have a cool accent.

Anyways the closest I may get is a trip to Paris which is happening this week and I’m bursting with excitement. Even better is that Jimmy and I are I’m traveling with my sister and brother-in-law who will add to our hilarity as Americans in Paris (okay Jimmy gets a pass as the only Aussie). We’ve got a few days in Paris followed by some time in the French Riviera before Leanne & Nate had back home and Jimmy and I embark on a yet to be planned road trip through the countryside. I’m looking forward to a little travel adventure and we’ll be instagramming up a storm so make sure to follow along here. Au revoir…

August 16, 2013

It's hard to believe that Little Paper Trees turned three earlier this month so in honor of my blogging journey I'm celebrating by taking a moment to reflect back on how far I've come since writing that first post. For me this space has and will always be an place where I can write and ramble to my hearts content. Over the years I've found that with age, my memory fades and the words and photos here bring back to life little moments that would have been otherwise forgotten.

From birthdays to engagements, to the birth of my niece and death of my grandparents this blog had documented milestones (good and bad) and has been along for the adventures that Jimmy and I have experienced here in Australia. I hope it has helped to bridge the distance between myself and my friends and family far away by showing (often random) glimpses into our daily lives, travels and mundane routines.

As I've mentioned before it has opened doors, brought new people and opportunities into my life and remains a constant outlet for my often confused and hurried attempts at creativity. It's an outlet for expression and the words and pages that have come before this post are a collection of memories I'm proud to call my own. Here's to the next three years...

*this is my cliche, in the bathroom "i'm a serious blogger' photo that I thought fit perfectly with this post.

August 14, 2013

My one piece of advice to anyone looking to step out of their comfort zone would be to say yes to opportunities that scare you.

Say yes when you feel like saying no, when it would safer and easier and much less of a headache to just let an opportunity pass. This is what happened when a few weeks ago I got a call from Cake Wines asking to team up to host a Kinfolk event as part of their month long pop-up space in Melbourne.

The timing was bad - I had just come off 2 straight weeks of work, was leaving in less than a week for Paris and would have to organise the details quickly and remotely. It all seemed too much trouble but something about the offer stuck with me and I had long wanted to take Blog Society to Melbourne as a way to meet new bloggers so I found myself saying yes and diving straight in.

With the help of some very generous and talented people I was able to pull it off and I flew down this past weekend with butterflies in my stomach. The next few hours I am happy to say pulled together seamlessly and our Honey Harvest event was one of the best afternoons I’ve had in a while complete with food, wine and some lovely people. We were introduced to the fascinating world of urban beekeeping from Maya Sunny Honey and Melbourne City Rooftop Honey and I really had a pinch me moment when I stopped to look around and realised that simply by saying yes (when it really would have been much easier to say no) was the best decision I could have made.

Not one to waste an opportunity, once the Kinfolk event was over I hung around and hosted a Blog Society Happy Hour event and enjoyed a few glasses of wine with some old (and new) Melbourne friends before dashing off to the airport to head back to Sydney. On the flight home, the butterflies were gone, my feet were tired but I was left with a profound sense that something wonderful had just happened. Good (perhaps even great) things can happen if you are just willing to face them head on.

August 12, 2013

Despite my best attempts, I just haven't found the time to blog lately. I find myself constantly in a state of perpetual motion, which has been exhilarating and rewarding but unfortunately has left little time to sit and capture the small moments, which is one of my favourite reasons for blogging. I promise I will get back into my routine or at least find a new rhythm in the coming weeks but for now here is a collection of images from our past few weeks. They represent the small moments in our daily lives that have meaning: enjoying walks around our neighborhood, an awesome night with friends gathered for a Christmas in July celebration, a steady stream of Blog Society happenings, a create Sydney CWC event and finally the long, slow process of planning a wedding, of which the only productive thing I've done is flip through a few pages of some cool new wedding mags...

August 6, 2013

Over a year ago, Jayde from Little Paper Lane and I hosted our very first Instagram Meet-Up with the aim to bring our growing Instagram community together. Since then, we've plotted and planned another meet-up but time, life, family and busy schedules got in the way. It was only when we approached West Elm did our second event finally begin to come together.

We had food, cocktails, a photo booth and an in-store scavenger hunt. It was such a fun night and we were a little overwhelmed with the massive turnout but everyone had a blast - but don't take my word for it, check out the insanely awesome video from the night to see what you missed!

Hi, I'm Jaclyn and welcome to Little Paper Trees, a Sydney-based blog about nothing and everything in between. Created to replace the journal I never got around to starting, this blog documents my daily musings, design love, photography attempts, embarrassing moments and general expat adventures as an American living down under. It's been quite the ride, I'm so glad you stopped by.